You Are Not A Gadget by Jaron Lanier
This is a great thought provoking book about the dehumanizing effects of technology; specifically the internet and computers. Lanier begins pessimistically about the utopian claims made by technologists, and many of his observations are difficult to argue. As a musician I was particularly interested in his comments about the “long tail”, the predictions of glorious riches that would accrue to musicians after the collapse of the old record company model. One of my favorite paragraphs in the book is this:
If you really want to know what’s really going on in a society or ideology, follow the money. If money is flowing to advertising instead of musicians, journalists and artists, then a society is more concerned with manipulation than truth or beauty. If content is worthless, then people will start to become empty-headed and contentless.
This is very true, but what I would argue to Lanier (and he might even agree) is that he is giving too much credit to the Average Person. The AP is not concerned with creating art or reporting news, but merely consuming whatever is put before him, whether it be a YouTube video of a LOLCAT or an animated advertisement that pops up on a webpage.
This was the same complaint that was leveled towards television in the early days. Academics and creative people saw it as a limitless medium for educating and stimulating people. But what basically happened is that it pretty quickly reached the average level of the average consumer. This is why typical programming plans for 40 to 45 minutes of content in a broadcast hour. The rest is advertising. MTV used to be one of my favorite examples: basically it started with videos of bands, which, however creative were advertisements for them. Soon, there were also regular advertisements mixed into the programming, blurring the boundary between ads and “content.” And we’ve all seen ads that were more creative and entertaining than the shows in which they were placed.
Anyway, back to Lanier’s book; I am doing it a disservice picking one small quote. If you’ve ever wondered what the point of Facebook is, whether Wikipedia is a good thing or not, if ebooks really will obsolete printing and why there is so little creativity buried in endless mashups of the past on the internet, Lanier has a well-considered theory about it that is worth reading.
My feeling is that the net is like anything. You really have to dig down to find the gems, but they are there. For instance, Lanier mentions his interest in the oud, a classic Middle Eastern stringed instrument somewhat like a lute. Thanks to the internet, people passionate about playing or building them, or just interested in the music can create a place where they can share about it.
I once was very interested in alchemy, but when one of the world’s top students of that arcane art tried to put together and open forum, it was soon descended upon by howling loons who eventually caused him to have to close it. He was loath to censor or ban anyone and they took full advantage of his kindness to destroy his forum. This is a good lesson about ‘the tragedy of the commons’ and the fact that pure openness means nothing is of any more value than anything else.
One other comment before I close: the revolutions on Egypt and Libya in 2011 have really shown the potential power of the internet. At various points the power structures of both those countries attempted to block internet access. These revolutions were matters of life and death.
And high-control countries such as North Korea and China still restrict or attempt to restrict internet access to their citizens. To me these are the most eloquent argument imaginable that the net is half advertising and half trivia. In general, as long as the populace is producing and consuming, the power structure doesn’t care what you think.
I’m really rambling here and doubt that anyone will make it this far so I might as well cut both of our losses and come to an end. The takeaway from this is: get the book, read it, think about it, argue with people about it.
last modified 20110303
